You have to cause a little pain to shed a little light.

List from yesterday:

• Finish editing my personal statement
  
• Get my medical records sent from DSFP to the doctor down here or at least i got the form faxed from one office to the other
  
• Make an appointment to see said doctor/rn/someone to declare me mentally and physically sound to travel. (HA. ha ha ha hahahahahahaha)
  
• Get check for said doctor's appointment if they don't take credit cards which they probably don't they take plastic yay!
  
• Clean my room before my mother has six hundred fits
  
• Return pants to AE, sigh
  
• Go to Lowes and see about agility stuff for the puppy
  
• Clicker trainingggggggg
  
• Actually study for phlebotomy
  
• Research H1N1 flu shot (i am in 2 risk factor groups that say i should take it, but lolol live vaccine and no insurance if the shot makes me sick H1N1 will kick my ass)
  
• Locate the other half of my socks

Four out of eleven is...well it's pretty bad. But at least some things got done. And there was actually a little bit of clicker training but it's sort of an ongoing process.

For those of you watching on DW this post is mostly a GIP.

Dear JET'ers, and/or people doing the whole teaching-English-abroad thing:

In your experience, would it be worth it for me to look into getting TEFL/TESOL/whatever certification? The JET website is incredibly unhelpful on this front. (You don't NEED a college background in education, but it's good! You don't NEED to know Japanese, but it's good! You don't NEED a TEFL, but it's good! You don't NEED anything but a bachelor's in something, English fluency, and to not be an utter mouthbreather, but having more? GOOD! urgh)

So, since you've done it or tried to do it or whatever, what's your advice?

I have:
- a BA in Literature
- a transcript saying i've taken the classroom requirements necessary to be certified to teach in PA, but not the Praxis tests or classroom observation/student teaching time
- native fluency in English with experience proofreading, correcting papers, and generally being a lit major.
- no real knowledge of Japanese but plenty of study tools
- some knowledge of modern Japanese culture

Would adding TEFL/TESOL to my resume make me more attractive, or is it a waste of my time? I ask because it would cost $1300 to get the certification from a program that actually seems legit (100 hrs of online learning time plus a week spent in classroom, observing and teaching real ESL students), and i have no desire to drop that kind of cash on something that won't pay off.

Plz help an idiot along, guys :/